European countries plan to deploy more troops to Greenland amid rising U.S. annexation threats

Several NATO members are sending limited military contingents to Greenland for joint drills with Denmark, as U.S. President Donald Trump intensifies rhetoric about forcibly taking control of the Arctic territory.

Trump’s pronouncements have thrown Europe’s decades-old, US-led security alliance into crisis, raising the prospect of NATO’s largest and most powerful member seizing territory from another country.

Denmark, which is responsible for Greenland’s defense, warned that an attack on Greenland would effectively destroy NATO and announced on Wednesday that it was increasing its military presence “in cooperation with NATO allies.”

Germany, Sweden, France, and Norway have all confirmed that they are sending troops to Greenland this week.

Canada and France have also said they plan to open consulates in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, in the coming weeks.

Sending troops to other NATO countries for training is not unusual for NATO members, and allies, including the US, have been working for years to increase joint exercises in the Arctic Circle.

Approximately 150 US troops are stationed at Thule Air Base in northwestern Greenland.

But the timing and symbolism of the European countries’ new announcements represent a significant show of unity at a time of unprecedented tension within NATO.

Trump has been remarkably open about his desire to acquire the world’s largest island, including through force if necessary, and said during a press conference with oil executives on Friday that he was “going to do something about Greenland, whether they like it or not.”

In a statement on Wednesday, the German Defense Ministry said that, at Denmark’s request, it was sending a “reconnaissance team” of 13 military personnel to Greenland on Thursday for an “exploration mission” with other partner nations.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersen announced on X that Sweden had sent an unspecified number of troops to Greenland on Wednesday, at Denmark’s request.

He said the Swedish officers would be part of a group of troops from other allied countries preparing together for an upcoming exercise called Operation Arctic Endurance.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France would also take part in Operation Arctic Endurance. “The first French military units are already on their way. The rest will follow,” he wrote on X.

A spokesman for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense confirmed that Norway was also sending two defense personnel to Greenland.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, is a long-standing military alliance between 30 European countries, as well as the US and Canada.

This is based on the principle that an attack on one member should be considered an attack on all, and that’s what makes the American threats against Greenland—which is part of NATO due to its association with Denmark—so extraordinary.

The Danish defense minister called the possibility of a US attack on Greenland “completely hypothetical.”

“It is highly unlikely that a NATO country would attack another NATO country,” Troels Lund Poulsen told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.